Shared local government channel

ABSTRACT

A method, performed by a computer device, may include receiving content from a first local government entity; associating a virtual channel identifier with the received content; and transmitting the received content and the virtual channel identifier on a shared local government channel, wherein the shared local government channel includes content received from a second local government entity.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A provider of television services, such as a cable television provider,may be required by law (e.g., by the 1984 Cable Franchise Policy andCommunications Act) to include a local government channel among thetelevision channels provided to subscribers. A local government channelmay include content provided by a local government office, associatedwith subscribers in a particular geographic area, such as, for example,a county government or a municipality government. Local governmentchannels may include video content of low quality and/or sparseinformation content. For example, a local government station may use acycling slide show to keep the station active. Devoting a channel fordelivering content from a local government station may waste bandwidth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary environment according toan implementation described herein;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a device ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating exemplary functional components of thelocal government portal of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating exemplary components that may bestored in the content memory of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a set-top boxaccording to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a transmission sequence for a shared localgovernment channel according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for transmitting contentreceived from a local government station on a shared local governmentchannel according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for processing videocontent received from a local government station according to animplementation described herein;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for processinginteractive content received from a local government station accordingto an implementation described herein;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for processing acommunity board posting relating to a local government channel accordingto an implementation described herein;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for presenting contentfrom a shared local government channel according to an implementationdescribed herein;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for presenting videocontent from a shared local government channel according to animplementation described herein;

FIGS. 12A-12F are diagrams of exemplary user interfaces that may beprovided by a local government portal according to an implementationdescribed herein; and

FIGS. 13A-13C are diagrams of exemplary user interfaces that may beprovided by a set-top box according to an implementation describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same orsimilar elements.

An implementation described herein may relate to providing a portal tolocal government stations for submitting content to a provider oftelevision services. Content from multiple local government stations maybe sent as formatted text data and/or graphic data via a shared localgovernment channel. Transmitting data as formatted text and/or graphicdata may significantly reduce bandwidth in comparison to a slide showtransmitted as video data. A particular local government station may beassigned a virtual channel identifier and content associated with theparticular government station may be identified by a customer's set-topbox using the virtual channel identifier. The set-top box may storecontent associated with the particular local government station in acache. When the customer switches to the local government channel usingthe set-top box, content (e.g., a slide show) from the cache may bepresented.

The portal may enable the local government station to upload videocontent. The video content may be stored at a video-on-demand (VOD)server and an indication may be sent via the shared local governmentchannel that video content is available. The customer may select toaccess the video content and the set-top box may request the videocontent from the VOD server. If a local government station requirestransmission of a real-time video broadcast, the local governmentstation may use the portal to schedule the real-time video broadcast ona calendar. The calendar may indicate time slots available for real-timevideo broadcasts and if a first local government station schedules abroadcast on the shared local government channel, the scheduled timeslot may become unavailable for other local government stations.

The portal may provide templates that may be used by a local governmentstation to generate a slide show and upload text and/or other types ofmedia (e.g., graphical images, audio files, video files, etc.).Furthermore, the portal may enable a local government station to provideinteractive content to customers. For example, the local governmentstation may prompt customers to provide input, such as, for example, toelectronically sign a petition, provide comments, fill out aquestionnaire, etc. A customer may enter input using, for example, aremote control, and the input may be sent to the portal using a dataupload channel. Furthermore, the portal may enable the local governmentstation to manage a public community message board that may be providedvia the shared local government channel. Customers may upload messagesto the community board and may read messages posted by other customers.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary environment 100 in which the systemsand/or methods described herein may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1,environment 100 may include a local head end 110, a super head end 120,one or more content providers 125-A to 125-N (referred to hereincollectively as “content providers 125” and individually as “contentprovider 125”), one or more local government stations 135-A to 135-N(referred to herein collectively as “local government stations 135” andindividually as “local government station 135”), customer premises 140,a network 150, and a mobile device 160.

While FIG. 1 depicts a single local head end 110, a single customerpremises 140, a single network 150, and a single mobile device 160 forillustrative purposes, in practice, environment 100 may include multiplelocal head ends 110, multiple customer premises 140, multiple networks150, and/or multiple mobile devices 160.

Local head end 110 may include one or more devices, such as serverdevices, that ingest content, store content, format content, and/ordeliver content to customer premises 140 and/or mobile device 160. Forexample, local head end 110 may provide television channels, includingcontent received from content providers 125 and including content from aparticular local government station 135 via a shared local governmentchannel. Furthermore, local head end 110 may receive requests forcontent from customer premises 140 and/or mobile device 160. While localhead end 110 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as connecting to a single customerpremises 140 for explanatory purposes, in practice, local head end 110may connect to multiple customer premises 140 (and/or to multiple mobiledevices 160). For example, local head end 110 may deliver content tocustomer premises 140 located within a particular geographic area. Localhead end 110 may include a VOD server 115.

VOD server 115 may include one or more devices, such as server devices,that store and provide content on demand. For example, VOD server 115may include a catalog of content that may be accessed by a customerusing a device associated with customer premises 140 or using mobiledevice 160. The customer may select a particular content (e.g., a movie)to purchase and VOD server 115 may stream the purchased content tocustomer premises 140 (and/or to mobile device 160) when the customerselects to consume the purchased content. Furthermore, VOD server 115may include video content received from local government station 135 vialocal government portal 130.

Super head end 120 may include one or more devices, such as serverdevices, that ingest content, store content, format content, and/ordeliver content to local head end 110. For example, super head end 120may ingest content from content providers 125 at a national (and/ormulti-region level) and provide the ingested content to one or morelocal head ends 110.

Content provider 125 may include one or more devices, such as serverdevices, that provide content to super head end 120. For example,content provider 125 may include free television broadcast providers(e.g., local broadcast providers, such as NBC, CBS, ABC, and/or Fox),for-pay television broadcast providers (e.g., TNT, ESPN, HBO, Cinemax,CNN, etc.), and/or Internet-based content providers (e.g., Youtube,Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu, Veoh, etc.) that stream content from web sitesand/or permit content to be downloaded (e.g., via progressive download,etc.). Content provider 125 may also include on-demand content providers(e.g., video on demand (VOD), pay per view (PPV), etc.).

Local government portal 130 may include one or more devices, such asserver devices, that enable local government stations 135 to providecontent to customers. For example, local government portal 130 mayprovide a web portal that may enable an operator of a particular localgovernment station 135 to upload content that is to be provided tocustomers associated with the particular local government station 135.Local government portal 130 may multiplex content from different localgovernment stations 135 into a shared local government channel and mayprovide the shared local government channel to super head end 120 and/orto local head end 110. Furthermore, local government portal 130 mayreceive messages from customers and may associate the messages with acommunity board associated with the particular local government station130 and/or with an inbox associated with the particular local governmentstation 130.

Local government station 135 may include one or more devices, such asserver devices, that generate content for a local government. Forexample, local government station 135 may be associated with aparticular county government or a particular municipality government.

Customer premises 140 may include a particular location (or multiplelocations) associated with a customer. For example, customer premises140 may include the customer's home. Devices associated with customerpremises 140, as well as mobile device 160, may receive content, such asvideo content, via local head end 110. Devices associated with customerpremises 140, as well as mobile device 160, may be considered “userdevices” and/or “network devices.” Customer premises 140 may include anetwork terminal (NT) 142, a set top box (STB) 144, a television 145, aremote control 146, a personal computer 148, and a display 149.

NT 142 may receive content from local head end 110 via a connection,such as, for example, via a fiber optic cable connection, a coaxialcable connection, a wireless connection, and/or another type ofconnection. Furthermore, NT 142 may send information from a deviceassociated with customer premises 140 to local head end 110. In oneimplementation, NT 142 may include an optical network terminal and NT142 and local head end 110 may form part of a high-speed fiber opticnetwork (e.g., FiOS™). In another implementation, NT 142 may include acable modem. In yet another implementation, NT 142 may include a fixedwireless transceiver. Additionally or alternatively, NT 142 may includea layer 2 and/or layer 3 network device, such as a switch, router,firewall, and/or gateway. Customer premises 140 may receive one or moreservices via the connection between NT 142 and local head end 110, suchas, for example, a television service, Internet service, and/or voicecommunication (e.g., telephone) service.

STB 144 may receive content and output the content to television 145 fordisplay. STB 144 may include a component (e.g., a cable card or asoftware application) that interfaces with (e.g., plugs into) a hostdevice (e.g., a personal computer, television 145, a stereo system,etc.) and allows the host device to display content. STB 144 may also beimplemented as a home theater personal computer (HTPC), an optical diskplayer (e.g., digital video disk (DVD) or Blu-Ray™ disc player), a cablecard, etc. STB 144 may receive commands and/or other type of data fromother devices, such as remote control 146, and may transmit the data toother devices in environment 100, such as, for example, local governmentportal 130.

Television 145 may output content received from STB 144. Television 145may include speakers as well as a display. Remote control 146 may issuewired or wireless commands for controlling other electronic devices,such as television 145 and/or STB 144. Remote control 146, inconjunction with STB 144, may allow a customer to interact with anapplication running on STB 144, such as an application to providecontent from a shared local government channel. Other types of devices(e.g., a keyboard, mouse, mobile phone, touch screen, pointing device,motion sensing input device, etc.) may be used instead of, or inaddition to, remote control 146, in order to control television 145and/or STB 144.

Personal computer 148 may include a desktop computer, a laptop computer,a tablet computer, a mobile communication device, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), or another type of computation and/or communicationdevice. Personal computer 148 may include a microphone to capture audio,a camera to capture images or video. Personal computer 148 may includedisplay 149 for displaying images and/or video content received fromcontent service system 130. Personal computer 148 may also include aspeaker for playing audio signals.

Network 150 may include one or more wired and/or wireless networks. Forexample, network 150 may include a cellular network, the Public LandMobile Network (PLMN), a second generation (2G) network, a thirdgeneration (3G) network, a fourth generation (4G) network (e.g., a longterm evolution (LTE) network), a fifth generation (5G) network, a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) network, a global system for mobilecommunications (GSM) network, a general packet radio services (GPRS)network, a combination of thereof, and/or another type of wirelessnetwork. Additionally, or alternatively, network 150 may include a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan areanetwork (MAN), an ad hoc network, an intranet, a fiber optic-basednetwork (e.g., a fiber optic service network), a television network,and/or a combination of these or other types of networks. Network 150may enable local head end 110 to communicate with mobile device 160and/or with local government portal 130.

Mobile device 160 may include a mobile communication device, such as amobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop, a PDA, oranother type of portable communication device. Mobile device 160 mayreceive content, such as content from a shared local government channel,from local head end 110 via network 150. In one embodiment, mobiledevice 160 may be associated with a customer account associated withcustomer premises 140. In another embodiment, mobile device 160 need notbe associated with customer premises 140.

Although FIG. 1 shows exemplary components of environment 100, in otherimplementations, environment 100 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, differently arranged components, or additional componentsthan depicted in FIG. 1. Additionally or alternatively, one or morecomponents of environment 100 may perform functions described as beingperformed by one or more other components of environment 100.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a device 200according to an implementation described herein. Local government portal130, STB 144, personal computer 148, mobile device 160, and/or otherdevices in environment 100, may each include one or more devices 200. Asshown in FIG. 2, device 200 may include a bus 210, a processor 220, amemory 230, an input device 240, an output device 250, and acommunication interface 260.

Bus 210 may include a path that permits communication among thecomponents of device 200. Processor 220 may include any type ofsingle-core processor, multi-core processor, microprocessor, latch-basedprocessor, and/or processing logic (or families of processors,microprocessors, and/or processing logics) that interprets and executesinstructions. In other embodiments, processor 220 may include anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmablegate array (FPGA), and/or another type of integrated circuit orprocessing logic.

Memory 230 may include any type of dynamic storage device that may storeinformation and/or instructions, for execution by processor 220, and/orany type of non-volatile storage device that may store information foruse by processor 220. For example, memory 230 may include a randomaccess memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device, aread-only memory (ROM) device or another type of static storage device,a content addressable memory (CAM), a magnetic and/or optical recordingmemory device and its corresponding drive (e.g., a hard disk drive,optical drive, etc.), and/or a removable form of memory, such as a flashmemory.

Input device 240 may allow an operator to input information into device200. Input device 240 may include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, apen, a microphone, a remote control, an audio capture device, an imageand/or video capture device, a touch-screen display, and/or another typeof input device. In some embodiments, device 200 may be managed remotelyand may not include input device 240. In other words, device 200 may be“headless” and may not include a keyboard, for example.

Output device 250 may output information to an operator of device 200.Output device 250 may include a display, a printer, a speaker, and/oranother type of output device. For example, device 200 may include adisplay, which may include a liquid-crystal display (LCD) for displayingcontent to the customer. In some embodiments, device 200 may be managedremotely and may not include output device 250. In other words, device200 may be “headless” and may not include a display, for example.

Communication interface 260 may include a transceiver that enablesdevice 200 to communicate with other devices and/or systems via wirelesscommunications (e.g., radio frequency, infrared, and/or visual optics,etc.), wired communications (e.g., conductive wire, twisted pair cable,coaxial cable, transmission line, fiber optic cable, and/or waveguide,etc.), or a combination of wireless and wired communications.Communication interface 260 may include a transmitter that convertsbaseband signals to radio frequency (RF) signals and/or a receiver thatconverts RF signals to baseband signals. Communication interface 260 maybe coupled to an antenna for transmitting and receiving RF signals.

Communication interface 260 may include a logical component thatincludes input and/or output ports, input and/or output systems, and/orother input and output components that facilitate the transmission ofdata to other devices. For example, communication interface 260 mayinclude a network interface card (e.g., Ethernet card) for wiredcommunications and/or a wireless network interface (e.g., a WiFi) cardfor wireless communications. Communication interface 260 may alsoinclude a universal serial bus (USB) port for communications over acable, a Bluetooth™ wireless interface, a radio-frequency identification(RFID) interface, a near-field communications (NFC) wireless interface,and/or any other type of interface that converts data from one form toanother form.

As will be described in detail below, device 200 may perform certainoperations relating to ingestion, reception, presentation, and/ormanagement of content associated with a local government channel. Device200 may perform these operations in response to processor 220 executingsoftware instructions contained in a computer-readable medium, such asmemory 230. A computer-readable medium may be defined as anon-transitory memory device. A memory device may be implemented withina single physical memory device or spread across multiple physicalmemory devices. The software instructions may be read into memory 230from another computer-readable medium or from another device. Thesoftware instructions contained in memory 230 may cause processor 220 toperform processes described herein. Alternatively, hardwired circuitrymay be used in place of, or in combination with, software instructionsto implement processes described herein. Thus, implementations describedherein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitryand software.

Although FIG. 2 shows exemplary components of device 200, in otherimplementations, device 200 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, additional components, or differently arranged componentsthan depicted in FIG. 2. Additionally or alternatively, one or morecomponents of device 200 may perform one or more tasks described asbeing performed by one or more other components of device 200.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of exemplary functional components of localgovernment portal 130. The functional components of local governmentportal 130 may be implemented, for example, via processor 220 executinginstructions from memory 230. As shown in FIG. 3A, local governmentportal 130 may include a template toolbox 310, a VOD interface unit 312,a scheduling unit 314, a customer input unit 316, a community board unit318, a transmission unit 320, a content memory 322, a templates memory324, and a calendar memory 326.

Template toolbox 310 may provide a user interface to local governmentstation 135 that enables local government station 135 to use templatesfrom templates memory 324 to organize content. For example, anadministrator associated with local government station 135 may select atemplate for a slide show and may use the template to create slides thatinclude content that is to be provided to customers associated withlocal government station 135. Furthermore, template toolbox 310 mayenable the administrator to create a slide that includes interactivecontent (e.g., that prompts a customer for input and that sends inputfrom the customer to local government portal 130).

VOD interface unit 312 may determine a particular VOD server 115 for aparticular local government station 135, may upload video contentreceived from the particular local government station 135, and may storean indication of available video content in content memory 322 to beincluded in content provided to customers associated with the particularlocal government station 135.

Scheduling unit 314 may interact with calendar memory 326 to schedulereal-time broadcasts for local government stations 135. Customer inputunit 316 may receive input from customers associated with the particularlocal government station 135 and may determine how to process thereceived input. For example, customer input unit 316 may determine thatthe received input corresponds to a posting to a community message boardand may store the received input in connection with the communitymessage board. As another example, customer input unit 316 may determinethat the received input corresponds to a message associated with aparticular inbox and may store the received input with connection withthe particular inbox.

Community board unit 318 may provide a user interface to localgovernment station 135 to enable local government station 135 to managea community message board. For example, an administrator associated withlocal government station 135 may select a template for a communitymessage board, may review and approve or disapprove postings to thecommunity message board, may set rules for posting to the communitymessage board, and/or may perform any other function associated with thecommunity message board.

Transmission unit 320 may multiplex content from multiple localgovernment stations 135 into a shared local government channel andprovide the shared local government channel, in a particular format, tosuper head end 120 and/or to local head end 110. Furthermore,transmission unit 320 may interact with an emergency broadcast system(e.g., Emergency Alert System (EAS) and/or a local emergency system).When an emergency transmission is initiated by the emergency broadcastsystem, transmission unit 320 may pause transmitting content associatedwith local government stations 135 and may forward the emergencytransmission along the shared local government channel.

Content memory 322 may store content associated with a particular localgovernment station 135. Exemplary content that may be stored in contentmemory 322 is described below with reference to FIG. 3B. Templatesmemory 324 may store templates for generating content in a particularlayout. For example, templates memory 324 may store templates for slideshows and/or templates for community message boards. Calendar memory 326may store one or more calendars associated with local government portal130. The one or more calendars may be used to schedule live transmissionand/or to schedule other events. In one implementation, a calendar maybe associated with super head end 120. In another implementation, aparticular calendar may be associated with a particular local head end110. For example, multiple live transmissions may be scheduled at a sametime if the local government stations 135 are associated with differentlocal head ends 110.

Although FIG. 3A shows exemplary functional components of localgovernment portal 130, in other implementations, local government portal130 may include fewer functional components, different functionalcomponents, differently arranged functional components, or additionalfunctional components than depicted in FIG. 3A. Additionally oralternatively, one or more functional components of local governmentportal 130 may perform functions described as being performed by one ormore other functional components of local government portal 130.

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating exemplary components that may bestored in the content memory 322. As shown in FIG. 3B, content memory322 may include one or more local government channel records 350. Eachlocal government channel record 350 may be associated with a particularlocal government station 135. Local government channel record 350 mayinclude a virtual channel identifier (ID) field 352, a local governmentstation field 354, a geographic area field 356, a local head end field358, a VOD server field 360, and a content field 370.

Virtual channel ID field 352 may store a particular virtual channel IDassociated with a particular local government station 135. Localgovernment station field 354 may store information identifying theparticular local government station 135 (e.g., a Uniform ResourceIdentifier (URI) associated with the particular local government station135). Furthermore, local government station field 354 may identify aparticular local government (e.g., county or municipality government)associated with the particular local government station 135.

Geographic area field 356 may store information identifying a particulargeographic area associated with the particular local government station.Information identifying the particular geographic area may be used todetermine which customers are to be associated with the particular localgovernment station, which local head end 110 is to be associated withthe particular local government station, and/or which VOD server 115 isto be associated with the particular local government station. Localhead end field 358 may store information identifying a particular localhead end 110 associated with the particular local government station.VOD server field 360 may store information identifying a particular VODserver 115 associated with the particular local government station.

Content field 370 may store content associated with the particular localgovernment station. Content field 370 may include a home page contentfield 372, a slide show content field 374, a video content field 376, acommunity board content field 378, an inbox content field 380, and ascheduled live broadcasts field 382.

Home page content field 372 may store information related to a home pageassociated with the particular local government station (e.g., a URIassociated with the particular government station and/or informationobtained from the URI, such as, for example, contact information forpersonnel associated with the local government, etc.). Slide showcontent field 374 may store information related to a slide show that isto be provided for customers associated with the particular localgovernment station. Video content field 376 may store information aboutvideo and/or audio files associated with the particular governmentstation. For example, video content field 376 may include an indicationof the availability of a video file and/or audio file, information aboutthe video file and/or audio file (e.g., title, duration, date, etc.),and/or information about a location where the video and/or audio file isstored (e.g., a URI and/or information identifying a particular VODserver 115).

Community board content field 378 may store information about postingsto a community board that is to be provided for customers associatedwith the particular local government station. For example, a customermay post a message to the community board and an administratorassociated with the particular local government station may approve theposting to be included on the community board. Inbox content field 380may store information about messages sent by a customer to the localgovernment associated with the particular local government station. Forexample, the local government may prompt a customer for a particulartype of input (e.g., sign a petition, fill out a survey, etc.) or acustomer may have a question about an issue associated with the localgovernment. Scheduled live broadcasts field 382 may store informationabout live broadcasts that have been scheduled by the particular localgovernment station.

Although FIG. 3B shows exemplary components of content memory 322, inother implementations, content memory 322 may include fewer components,different components, differently arranged components, or additionalcomponents than depicted in FIG. 3B.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of exemplary functional components of STB 144,personal computer 148, or mobile device 160. The functional componentsof STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobile device 160 may beimplemented, for example, via processor 220 executing instructions frommemory 230. As shown in FIG. 4, STB 144, personal computer 148, ormobile device 160 may include a local government channel module 401.Local government channel module 401 may be provided to STB 144 (or topersonal computer 148 or mobile device 160) by local government portal130. For example, local government portal 130 may instruct super headend 120 and/or local head end 110 to include local government channelmodule 401 in a software update to be provided to STB 144 (or topersonal computer 148 or mobile device 160). In another example, localgovernment channel module 401 may be included on STB 144 when STB 144 isinstalled in customer premises 140. Local government channel module 401may include a content presentation unit 410, a content cache 415, a VODinterface unit 420, and a customer messages unit 430.

Content presentation unit 410 may receive a shared local governmentchannel and may identify content included in the shared local governmentchannel that is associated with a particular virtual channel ID 352.Content presentation unit 410 may capture content associated with theparticular virtual channel ID 352 and may ignore content that is notassociated with the particular virtual channel ID 352. Contentpresentation unit 410 may store the captured content in content cache415.

When a customer selects a local government channel (e.g., using remotecontrol 146), content presentation unit 410 may retrieve content storedin content cache 415 and may present the content to the customer (e.g.,via television 145). Content presentation unit 410 may enable thecustomer to interact with the presented content (e.g., by browsingslides in a slide show). Content cache 415 may store content associatedwith a local government channel, associated with a particular localgovernment station 135.

VOD interface unit 420 may interface with VOD server 115 to providevideo content to the customer. For example, the content stored incontent cache 415 may include an indication of an available video file.The customer may select to access the video file and, in response to theselection, VOD interface unit 420 may obtain the video file from VODserver 115 and present the video file to the customer (e.g., bystreaming the video file from VOD server 115 to television 145).

Customer messages unit 430 may send messages from the customer to localgovernment portal 130. For example, the content presented to thecustomer may include interactive content that may enable the customer toprovide input (e.g., sign a petition, answer a survey, pay a localgovernment tax, etc.) and the customer may enter the input using remotecontrol 146 (or using personal computer 148 or mobile device 160). Asanother example, content messages unit 410 may enable a customer to senda message to a local government portal 130. Customer messages unit 430may send messages from customer premises 140 to local government portal130 using a data uplink channel.

Although FIG. 4 shows exemplary functional components of STB 144,personal computer 148, or mobile device 160, in other implementations,STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobile device 160 may include fewerfunctional components, different functional components, differentlyarranged functional components, or additional functional components thandepicted in FIG. 4. Additionally or alternatively, one or morefunctional components of STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobiledevice 160 may perform functions described as being performed by one ormore other functional components of STB 144, personal computer 148, ormobile device 160.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a transmission sequence 500 for a shared localgovernment channel according to an implementation described herein. Inone implementation, transmission sequence 500 may correspond to atransmission sequence of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)channel. In another implementation, transmission sequence 500 maycorrespond to a sequence of packets in an Internet Protocol television(IPTV) scheme. In yet another implementation, transmission sequence 500may correspond to a transmission sequence in another transmissionscheme.

As shown in FIG. 5, transmission sequence 500 may include transmissionof local government channel 501-A (which may be associated with localgovernment station 135-A), followed by the next local government channeland so on, until transmission of local government channel 501-N (whichmay be associated with local government station 135-N). After localgovernment channel 501-N, the transmission may be repeated starting withthe transmission of local government channel 501-A.

Local government channel 501 may include a virtual channel ID 510followed by channel content 520. Virtual channel ID 510 may identifythat the content that follows is associated with a particular localgovernment channel 501 associated with a particular local governmentstation 135. STB 144 may use virtual channel ID 510 to determine whichcontent to download. For example, STB 144 may start downloading contentafter detecting virtual channel ID 510, associated with local governmentstation 135 that is associated with the geographic area of STB 144, andmay stop downloading content after a different virtual channel ID 510 isdetected. Thus, transmission sequence 500 may include content frommultiple local government stations 135 which has been combined usingtime division multiplexing.

Channel content 520 may include formatted text data and/or image data.For example, content provided by local government station 135 may beconverted to a formatted text format, such as, for example, a markuplanguage (e.g., Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML), etc.); a page description language (e.g., PostScript,Portable Document Format (PDF), etc.); a printer command language;and/or any other type of formatted text.

Although FIG. 5 shows exemplary components of transmission sequence 500,in other implementations, transmission sequence 500 may include fewercomponents, different components, additional components, or differentlyarranged components than depicted in FIG. 5. For example, rather thantransmitting a virtual channel ID at the beginning of transmission ofcontent from a particular local government station, a virtual channel IDmay be interspersed at particular intervals during transmission ofcontent from the particular government station.

As another example, while FIG. 5 illustrates combining content frommultiple local government stations 135 using time division multiplexing,in another example, the content may be combined using a different typeof multiplexing. For example, content from multiple local governmentstations 135 may be combined onto a shared channel using code divisionmultiple access (CDMA) by modulating content from different localgovernment stations 135 using different codes. As another example,content from multiple local government stations 135 may be combined ontoa shared channel using frequency division multiple access (FDMA) bydividing the channel into sub-channels of smaller bandwidth.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for transmitting contentreceived from a local government station on a shared local governmentchannel according to an implementation described herein. In oneimplementation, the process of FIG. 6 may be performed by localgovernment portal 130. In other implementations, some or all of theprocess of FIG. 6 may be performed by another device or a group ofdevices separate from local government portal 130 and/or including localgovernment portal 130, such as local head end 110 and/or super head end120.

The process of FIG. 6 may include providing a user interface to a localgovernment station (block 610). For example, an administrator of localgovernment station 135 may decide to upload content to local governmentportal 130 and may use a browser application (e.g., Internet Explorer,Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Opera, etc.) to access aportal web page hosted by local government portal 130 and may log intothe portal web page to access the user interface. In another example,local government station 135 may download a particular application fromlocal government portal 130 that may enable local government station 135to interact with local government portal 130.

A determination may be made as to whether a request to schedule a livetransmission was received (block 620). For example, the administratormay select a calendar tab associated with the user interface and requestto schedule a live transmission from local government station 135 at aparticular time. If it is determined that a request for a livetransmission was received (block 620—YES), the live transmission may bescheduled in an available time slot (block 630). For example, schedulingunit 314 may provide a calendar to the administrator by accessingcalendar memory 326. The calendar may indicate allowable time slots forthe live transmission and may block out unavailable time slots. Thus, ifa first local government station 135 schedules a live broadcast at aparticular time, the particular time may become unavailable forscheduling to other local government stations 135. Information about thescheduled live broadcast may be stored in calendar memory 326 and/or inscheduled live broadcasts field 382 of content record 350 associatedwith local government station 135.

Since a shared local government channel may be shared by many localgovernment stations 135, only one local government station 135 may beable to broadcast a real-time event at a time. However, as suchreal-time broadcasts may be infrequent, conflicts between differentlocal government stations 135 may be rare. In an unlikely event in whichtwo different local government stations 135 both request a same timeslot for a live broadcast, a resolution process may be initiated. Forexample, the first local government station 135 to request a particulartime slot may be given preference. In another example, a localgovernment station 135 associated with a larger geographic area may begiven preference. In yet another example, a local government station 135associated with a larger population may be given preference. In stillanother implementation, a draft-style method may be adopted forresolving conflicting timeslot selections.

Once a live transmission is scheduled, the live transmission may betransmitted on the shared local government channel during the scheduledtime slot (block 640). For example, at the scheduled time, schedulingunit 314 may instruct transmission unit 320 to feed a signal from theparticular local government station 135 onto the shared local governmentchannel. In one implementation, transmission unit 320 may feed thesignal from the particular local government station 135 to super headend 120 and super head end 120 may distribute the signal to local headends 110 via the shared local government channel. In anotherimplementation, transmission unit 320 may feed the signal from theparticular local government station 135 to a particular local head end110 associated with the particular local government station 135. Thus, ashared local government channel may be dedicated to the particular localgovernment station 135 during the live broadcast at the particular localhead end 110, while other local head ends 110 may continue to receivethe regular content via the shared local government channel. In thisimplementation, local government portal 130 may maintain differentcalendars for different local head ends 110 and local governmentstations 135 may schedule live transmissions with respect to aparticular local head end 110 (and independently of other local headends 110).

Returning to block 620, if it is determined that a request to schedule alive transmission was not received (block 620—NO), content from thelocal government station may be received (block 650). For example, theadministrator associated with local government station 135 may usetemplate toolbox 310 to select a template and enter content for a slideshow that is to be presented to a customer when the customer selects alocal government channel via STB 144. The slide show content may beconverted to a particular formatted text format and stored in slide showcontent field 374 of content record 350 associated with the localgovernment station. As another example, the administrator may uploadvideo content using the user interface associated with local governmentportal 130 as described below with respect to FIG. 7. Information aboutthe uploaded video content may be stored in video content field 370 ofcontent record 350 associated with the local government station. As yetanother example, the administrator may manage a community board includedas part of the content that is presented to a customer when the customerselects the local government channel. For example, the administrator mayapprove postings sent by users to be included on the community board.The community board content may be stored in community board contentfield 378 of content record 350 associated with the local governmentstation. As yet another example, the administrator may uploadinteractive content using the user interface (see FIG. 8). Theinteractive content may prompt a customer to provide a particular typeof input. Input received from a customer may be stored in inbox contentfield 380 of content record 350 associated with the local governmentstation.

A virtual channel identifier may be added to the received content (block660). For example, local government portal 130 may assign virtualchannel ID 510 to the content and may store virtual channel ID 510 invirtual channel ID field 352 of content record 350 associated with thelocal government station. The received content may be multiplexed onto ashared local government channel (block 670). For example, transmissionunit 320 may include the received content in the channel content 520that is transmitted on the shared local government channel. Transmissionunit 320 may scan content memory 322 based on a list of virtual channelIDs 510 and may, for a particular virtual channel ID 510, retrievecontent associated with the particular virtual channel ID 510, andmultiplex the retrieved content onto the shared local governmentchannel.

The shared local government channel may be transmitted (block 680). Forexample, transmission unit 320 may generate a QAM channel based on theshared local government channel and may provide the generated QAMchannel, which may include multiplexed content from multiple localgovernment stations 135, to super head end 120 as channel transmission500. Super head end 120 may distribute the shared local governmentchannel to local head ends 110. In another example, transmission unit320 may provide the generated QAM channel directly to one or more localhead ends 110. In another example, transmission unit 320 may generateIPTV packets based on the shared local government channel and mayprovide the generated IPTV packets to super head end 120 or to localhead ends 110 as channel transmission 500.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for processing videocontent received from a local government station according to animplementation described herein. In one implementation, the process ofFIG. 7 may be performed by local government portal 130. In otherimplementations, some or all of the process of FIG. 7 may be performedby another device or a group of devices separate from local governmentportal 130 and/or including local government portal 130.

The process of FIG. 7 may include receiving video content from a localgovernment station (block 710). For example, an administrator,associated with a particular local government station 135, may select atab on a user interface, associated with local government portal 130, tomanage video content. The administrator may subsequently upload videocontent to local government portal 130.

The received video content may be stored on a VOD server (block 720).For example, VOD interface unit 312 may determine a particular localhead end 110, associated with the particular local government station135, and may determine a particular VOD server 115 associated with theparticular local head end 110. VOD interface unit 312 may provide theuploaded video content to the particular VOD server 115 and may storeinformation about where the video content is stored in video contentfield 376 of content record 350 associated with the particular localgovernment station 135.

An indication of available video content may be added to the contentstream of the local government station in the shared local governmentchannel (block 730). For example, transmission unit 320 may includeinformation from video content field 376 in channel content 520associated with the local government station, such as a thumbnail imageassociated with a video file, a name of the video file, a duration ofthe video file, a description of the video file, and/or any otherinformation associated with the video file.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for processinginteractive content received from a local government station accordingto an implementation described herein. In one implementation, theprocess of FIG. 8 may be performed by local government portal 130. Inother implementations, some or all of the process of FIG. 8 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate from localgovernment portal 130 and/or including local government portal 130.

The process of FIG. 8 may include receiving interactive content from alocal government station (block 810). For example, an administrator,associated with a particular local government station 135, may create aslide in a slide show that prompts a customer for input. For example,the administrator may create a slide that prompts the user for input,such as a slide that includes a survey, a slide that asks the customerto sign a petition, or a slide that requests particular information fromthe user. The administrator may select to create an inbox associatedwith the interactive content and messages received from customers inresponse to the interactive content may be designated to be stored inthe created inbox. The interactive content may be added to channelcontent of the local government station in a shared local governmentchannel (block 820). For example, transmission unit 320 may include theinteractive content in channel content 520 associated with the localgovernment station.

Input relating to the interactive content may be received from acustomer (block 830). For example, a customer may view a slide thatincludes the interactive content and may enter input in response to theinteractive content. Customer messages unit 430 may send the inputentered by the customer to local government portal 130 along an uplinkdata channel along with information identifying the interactive content(e.g., information identifying a particular slide, a particularpetition, a particular survey, etc.). Furthermore, in one example, theinput may include information that identifies the customer (e.g., thecustomer's name, set-top box identifier, etc.). In another example, theinput may be sent anonymously (e.g., without identifying the customer).

The received input may be stored in an inbox associated with theinteractive content (block 840). For example, customer input unit 316 oflocal government portal 130 may receive the input and may determine theparticular interactive content associated with the received input.Customer input unit 316 may further determine a particular inboxassociated with the interactive content and may store the received inputin the particular inbox in inbox content field 380 of content record 350associated with the particular local government station 135.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for processing acommunity board posting relating to a local government channel accordingto an implementation described herein. In one implementation, theprocess of FIG. 9 may be performed by local government portal 130. Inother implementations, some or all of the process of FIG. 9 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate from localgovernment portal 130 and/or including local government portal 130.

The process of FIG. 9 may include receiving a community board postingfrom a customer (block 910). For example, a customer may activate localgovernment channel module 401 on STB 144 and may select an option tocreate a posting for the community message board associated with thelocal government channel. For example, the customer may create a postabout a yard sale, a post about a lost pet, etc. Customer messages unit430 may send the posting to local government portal 130.

A local government station may be prompted to approve the posting (block920). In one example, local government portal 130 may send anotification to local government station 135, informing local governmentstation 135 that a posting has been submitted for the community messageboard for approval. In another example, an administrator associated withlocal government station 135 may need to log into local governmentportal 130 and activate community board unit 318 to view postings thatare in need of approval. The administrator may select to approve ordisapprove the posting based on criteria established by local governmentstation 135.

A determination may be made as to whether the posting has been approved(block 930). For example, community board unit 318 may receive inputfrom local government station 135 either approving or disapproving theposting. If it is determined that the posting was not approved (block930—NO), the customer may be informed that the posting was not approved(block 940). As an example, community board unit 318 may send an emailto the customer at an email account associated with the customer'stelevision service.

If it is determined that the posting was approved (block 930—YES), theposting may be included on a community board (block 950). For example,community board unit 318 may add information about the posting tocommunity board content field 378 of content record 350 associated withlocal government station 135. Community board content that includes theposting may be added to the content stream of the local governmentstation in a shared local government channel (block 960). For example,transmission unit 320 may include information from community boardcontent field 378 in channel content 520 associated with the localgovernment station.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for presenting contentfrom a shared local government channel according to an implementationdescribed herein. In one implementation, the process of FIG. 10 may beperformed by STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobile device 160. Inother implementations, some or all of the process of FIG. 10 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate from STB 144,personal computer 148, or mobile device 160 and/or including STB 144,personal computer 148, or mobile device 160.

The process of FIG. 10 may include receiving a local government channel(block 1010). For example, STB 144 may receive QAM channels from localhead end 110. One of the received QAM channels may correspond to a localgovernment channel. The local government channel may correspond toshared local government channel that includes transmission sequence 500,received from local government portal 130. A virtual channel ID 510associated with the customer's area may be detected (block 1020). Forexample, content presentation unit 410 may monitor the local governmentchannel for a particular virtual channel ID 510. The particular virtualchannel ID 510 may be assigned to STB 144 based on the geographic areaassociated with the customer and based on the geographic area identifiedin geographic area field 356 of content record 350 of local governmentstation 135. For example, if the customer is located in county X andlocal government station 135-X is associated with the government ofcounty X, the customer's STB 144 may monitor the shared local governmentchannel for virtual channel ID 510-X associated with local governmentstation 135-X.

Content associated with the detected virtual channel ID may bedownloaded to a local cache (block 1030). For example, STB 144 maydownload channel content 520-X associated with virtual channel ID 510-Xand store the content in content cache 415. Customer selection of alocal government channel may be detected (block 1040). For example, thecustomer may use remote control 146 to select a local governmentchannel. Downloaded content from the local cache may be presented (block1050). For example, in response to the customer selecting the localgovernment channel, local government channel module 401 may presentcontent stored in content cache 415. In one example, local governmentchannel module 401 may present a screen with options for the customer toselect, for example, to navigate to a home page associated with thelocal government, to view a slide show, to view available videos, and/orto access a community message board. In another example, localgovernment channel module 401 may automatically present a slide showfrom content cache 415.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an exemplary process for presenting videocontent from a shared local government channel according to animplementation described herein. In one implementation, the process ofFIG. 11 may be performed by STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobiledevice 160. In other implementations, some or all of the process of FIG.11 may be performed by another device or a group of devices separatefrom STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobile device 160 and/orincluding STB 144, personal computer 148, or mobile device 160.

The process of FIG. 11 may include providing an indication of availablevideo content via a local government channel (block 1110). For example,a customer may select a local government channel and local governmentchannel module 401 may present information about available video filesassociated with the local government channel. In one example, theinformation about available video files may be presented on a particularslide of a cycling slide show. In another example, the information aboutavailable video files may be presented when the customer selects anoption to view information about available video files from a list ofviewing options (e.g., from a menu of options).

A request to access video content may be received (block 1120). Forexample, the customer may request to view an available video file byselecting the video file using remote control 146. Video content may beobtained from a VOD server and presented on a local government channel(block 1130). For example, in response to detecting selection of a videofile, VOD interface unit 420 may request the video file from VOD server115 and VOD server 115 may begin to stream the video file to STB 144.

FIGS. 12A-12F are diagrams of exemplary user interfaces that may beprovided by local government portal 130 to local government stations135. FIG. 12A is a diagram of user interface 1201 that may be presentedby local government portal 130 to local government station 135. Userinterface 1201 may include a home tab 1210, that, when selected, mayenable an administrator associated with local government station 135 toprovide reference information associated with a local government (e.g.,home page information). Home tab 1210 may include a redirect option 1212to redirect information from a home page and a create custom home pageoption 1214 to create a custom home page that may be provided tocustomers in connection with a local government channel. The home pagemay be provided to customers as part of channel content 520 provided bylocal government portal 130 in a shared local government channel and mayprovide customers with general information, such as names of governmentofficials, addressed, phone numbers, etc.

FIG. 12B is a diagram of user interface 1202 that may be presented bylocal government portal 130 to local government station 135. Userinterface 1202 may include a slide show tab 1220 that, when selected,may enable an administrator associated with local government station 135to create a slide show. User interface 1202 may include a templateselection object 1222 to enable the administrator to select a templatefor a slide show. A template may specify components of a slide and thelayout of the components. For example, the administrator may upload animage to be used as a background image, may upload a local governmentseal, a local government logo, may enter text information, may uploadgraphics, and/or may include other types of elements or information in aslide. Furthermore, user interface 1202 may enable an administrator tocreate different slide shows for different topics. The slide show may beprovided to customers as part of channel content 520 provided by localgovernment portal 130 in a shared local government channel.

FIG. 12C is a diagram of user interface 1203 that may be presented bylocal government portal 130 to local government station 135. Userinterface 1203 may include a community board tab 1230 that, whenselected, may enable an administrator associated with local governmentstation 135 to manage a community message board associated with a localgovernment channel. Customers, associated with local government station135, may post messages 1232 to the community message board. For example,an administrator may approve or disapprove postings to the communitymessage board. Approved messages may be provided to customers as part ofchannel content 520 provided by local government portal 130 in a sharedlocal government channel.

FIG. 12D is a diagram of user interface 1204 that may be presented bylocal government portal 130 to local government station 135. Userinterface 1204 may include a video content tab 1240 that, when selected,may enable an administrator associated with local government station 135to manage video files associated a local government channel. Forexample, the administrator may upload video files to be made availableto customers associated with local government portal 130. Uploaded videofiles may be stored in VOD server 115 and video file indications 1242,which include information about the uploaded video files, may beincluded in user interface 1204. The information about the uploadedvideo files may be provided to customers as part of channel content 520provided by local government portal 130 in a shared local governmentchannel.

FIG. 12E is a diagram of user interface 1205 that may be presented bylocal government portal 130 to local government station 135. Userinterface 1205 may include a calendar tab 1250 that, when selected, mayenable an administrator associated with local government station 135 tomanage a calendar associated with local government station 135. Userinterface 1205 may enable the administrator to schedule events 1256associated with a local government. Furthermore, user interface 1205 mayenable the administrator to schedule a live broadcast event 1252 for ashared local government channel. User interface 1205 may include anindication 1254 of unavailable time slots. For example, when a firstlocal government station 135 schedules a live transmission for aparticular time slot, the particular time slot may appear as unavailableto other local government stations 135 in user interface 1205. When aparticular local government station 135 schedules a live broadcast for aparticular time slot, local government portal 130 may cease transmittingtransmission sequence 500 and may only transmit a signal from theparticular local government station 135 for the duration of thescheduled time slot.

FIG. 12F is a diagram of user interface 1206 that may be presented bylocal government portal 130 to local government station 135. Userinterface 1206 may include a resident inbox tab 1260 that, whenselected, may enable an administrator associated with local governmentstation 135 to manage one or more inboxes for messages received fromcustomers associated with local government station 135. The customersassociated with local government station 135 may correspond to residentof a geographic area associated with the local government of localgovernment station 135. The administrator may create a general inbox1262 for receiving general messages from customers. Furthermore, theadministrator may create a specific inbox 1264 for receiving messagesassociated with a general topic. For example, the administrator maycreate an inbox for collecting electronic signatures for a petition.

FIGS. 13A-13C are diagrams of exemplary user interfaces provided by STB144 according to an implementation described herein. FIG. 13A is adiagram of user interface 1310 that may be provided by local governmentchannel module 401 to STB 144 to television 145 (or that may bedisplayed by personal computer 148 or mobile device 160) in response toa customer selecting a local government channel. User interface 1310 mayinclude a menu that includes a home page selection object 1312, a slideshow selection object 1314, a videos selection object 1316, and acommunity board selection object 1318. In another example, userinterface 1310 may include different selection objects, additionalselection objects, fewer selection objects, and/or differently arrangedselection objects. A customer may select one of the selection objectsby, for example, using remote control 146.

Home page selection object 1312 may, when selected, cause localgovernment channel module 401 to present information associated with alocal government home page. Slide show selection object 1314 may, whenselected, cause local government channel module 401 to present a slideshow associated with the local government. Videos selection object 1316may, when selected, cause local government channel module 401 to presentinformation about video files associated with the local government.Community board selection object 1318 may, when selected, cause localgovernment channel module 401 to present messages from a communitymessage board.

FIG. 13B is a diagram of a user interface 1320 that may include a slideshow associated with the local government. In one example, userinterface 1320 may be presented by local government channel module 401automatically when a customer selects a local government channel. Inanother example, user interface 1320 may be presented by localgovernment channel module 401 in response to a customer selecting slideshow selection object 1314. User interface 1320 may include a cyclingslide show that presents slides at a particular rate. Additionally oralternatively, a customer may be able to cycle through the slide showmanually by selecting a previous slide selection object 1322 or a nextslide selection object 1324.

FIG. 13C is a diagram of a user interface 1330 that includes interactivecontent. User interface 1330 may include a slide of a slide show thatprompts a user to enter input. For example, the slide may includeinformation about an electronic petition 1332 that includes an inputobject 1334 that may collect user input. The customer may user remotecontrol 146 to provide the requested input. In one implementation, inputobject 1334 may include a script input object, such as a Javascriptobject, and local government channel module 401 may include a scriptprocessor to process the script input object and provide the input tolocal government portal 130 via an uplink data channel. In anotherimplementation, input object 1334 may be implemented using anothertechnique.

In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto,and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing fromthe broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims thatfollow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded inan illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

For example, while series of blocks have been described with respect toFIGS. 6-11, the order of the blocks may be modified in otherimplementations. Further, non-dependent blocks may be performed inparallel.

Furthermore, while particular implementations are described herein withrespect to reducing bandwidth for carrying public access channels asrequired by law, such as the 1984 Cable Franchise Policy andCommunications Act and/or by another such law, another implementationmay be used for providing another type of content on a shared channel.For example, another implementation may relate to providing personaladvertisements, employment listings, “freecycling” posts, classifiedadvertisements, legal notices, and/or other types of message postingsand/or advertisements. The use of a shared channel for such postingsand/or advertisements may provide an additional low-cost revenue streamfor carriers and/or may reduce cost for existing services, by loweringbandwidth, improving content quality, and/or enabling the use ofinteractive content.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods, as described above, maybe implemented in many different forms of software, firmware, andhardware in the implementations illustrated in the figures. The actualsoftware code or specialized control hardware used to implement thesesystems and methods is not limiting of the embodiments. Thus, theoperation and behavior of the systems and methods were described withoutreference to the specific software code—it being understood thatsoftware and control hardware can be designed to implement the systemsand methods based on the description herein.

Further, certain portions, described above, may be implemented as acomponent that performs one or more functions. A component, as usedherein, may include hardware, such as a processor, an ASIC, or a FPGA,or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a processor executingsoftware).

It should be emphasized that the terms “comprises”/“comprising” whenused in this specification are taken to specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps or components but does not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,components or groups thereof.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present application shouldbe construed as critical or essential to the embodiments unlessexplicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, unless otherwisenoted, articles such as “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include oneor more items. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean“based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by one or more computerdevices, the method comprising: receiving, by the one or more computerdevices, first local government content from a first local governmententity; receiving, by the one or more computer devices, a message postedto a community message board associated with the first local governmententity from a customer via a set-top box; adding, by the one or morecomputer devices, community message board content to the received firstlocal government content, wherein the community message board contentincludes the received message; adding, by the one or more computerdevices, a first virtual channel identifier to the received firstcontent; receiving, by the one or more computer devices, second localgovernment content from a second local government entity; adding, by theone or more computer devices, a second virtual channel identifier to thereceived second content; multiplexing, by the one or more computerdevices, the first local government content and the second localgovernment content onto a shared local government channel using timedivision multiplexing, wherein the first local government contentincludes the added community message board content; and transmitting, bythe one or more computer devices, the multiplexed first and second localgovernment content via the shared local government channel.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the shared local government channel includesa quadrature amplitude modulation channel.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a request for a live transmission from thefirst local government entity for a particular time slot; determiningthat the particular time slot is available by accessing a calendar ofscheduled live transmissions associated with the shared local governmentchannel; and transmitting the live transmission from the first localgovernment entity during the particular time slot, in response todetermining that the particular time slot is available, whereintransmission of the second local government content is paused during theparticular time slot.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receivingthe first local government content from the first local governmententity includes: providing a web portal to the first local governmententity; and receiving the content via the web portal.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the providing the web portal to the first localgovernment entity includes: providing a plurality of templates forcreating a slide show to the first local government entity; receiving aselection of a template from the first local government entity;receiving slide show content to be included in a slide show based on theselected template; and generating a slide show that includes the slideshow content, wherein the received first local government contentincludes the generated slide show.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thereceived first local government content includes a video or audio file,the method further comprising: identifying a particular video-on-demandserver associated with the first local government entity; storing thevideo or audio file on the particular video-on-demand server; andincluding, in the received first local government content, an indicationthat the video or audio file is available from the particularvideo-on-demand server.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the receivedfirst local government content includes interactive content, the methodfurther comprising: generating an inbox associated with the interactivecontent; receiving input from the customer associated with the firstlocal government entity; determining that the received input isassociated with the interactive content; and storing the received inputin the generated inbox, in response to determining that the receivedinput is associated with the interactive content.
 8. The method of claim1, further comprising: receiving approval from the first localgovernment entity to include the received message on the communitymessage board; and including the posting in the community message boardcontent, in response to receiving the approval from the first localgovernment entity to include the received message on the communitymessage board.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting themultiplexed first and second local government content via the sharedlocal government channel includes: transmitting the shared localgovernment channel via at least one of a super head end or a local headend associated with a provider of television services.
 10. A systemcomprising: one or more computing devices configured to: receive firstlocal government content from a first local government entity; receive amessage posted to a community message board associated with the firstlocal government entity from a customer via a set-top box; add communitymessage board content to the received first local government content,wherein the community message board content includes the receivedmessage; associate a first virtual channel identifier with the receivedfirst local government content; receive second local government contentfrom a second local government entity; associate a second virtualchannel identifier with the received second content; multiplex the firstlocal government content and the second local government content onto ashared local government channel using time division multiplexing,wherein the first local government content includes the added communitymessage board content; and transmit the multiplexed first and secondlocal government content via the shared local government channel. 11.The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more computing devices arefurther configured to: receive a request for a live transmission fromthe first local government entity for a particular time slot; determinethat the particular time slot is available by accessing a calendar ofscheduled live transmissions associated with the shared local governmentchannel; and transmit the live transmission from the first localgovernment entity during the particular time slot, in response todetermining that the particular time slot is available, whereintransmission of the second local government content is paused during theparticular time slot.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the one ormore computing devices are further configured to: provide a web portalto the first local government entity; and receive the first localgovernment content via the web portal.
 13. The system of claim 10,wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to:provide a plurality of templates for creating a slide show to the firstlocal government entity; receive a selection of a template from thefirst local government entity; receive slide show content to be includedin a slide show based on the selected template; and generate a slideshow that includes the slide show content, wherein the received firstlocal government content includes the generated slide show.
 14. Thesystem of claim 10, further comprising: the set-top box configured to:receive the shared local government channel; detect the first virtualchannel identifier; download the first local government content inresponse to detecting the first virtual channel identifier; and storethe downloaded first local government content in a cache associated withthe set-top box.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the set-top box isfurther configured to: detect selection of a local government channel;and present the downloaded first local government content from thecache, in response to detecting the selection of the local governmentchannel.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the set-top box is furtherconfigured to: receive input from a remote control in response topresenting the downloaded content; and provide the received input to atleast one of the one or more computing devices.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable memory device storing instructions executable by oneor more processors that cause the one or more processors to execute amethod comprising: receiving first local government content from a firstlocal government entity; receiving a message posted to a communitymessage board associated with the first local government entity from acustomer via a set-top box; adding community message board content tothe received first local government content, wherein the communitymessage board content includes the received message messages posted to acommunity message board by customers associated with the first localgovernment entity; adding a first virtual channel identifier to thereceived first local government content; receiving second localgovernment content from a second local government entity; adding asecond virtual channel identifier to the received second content;multiplexing the first local government content and the second localgovernment content onto a shared local government channel using timedivision multiplexing, wherein the first local government contentincludes the added community message board content; and transmitting themultiplexed first and second local government content via the sharedlocal government channel.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablememory device of claim 17, the method further comprising: receiving arequest for a live transmission from the first local government entityduring a particular time slot; determining that the particular time slotis available by accessing a calendar of scheduled live transmissionsassociated with the shared local government channel; and transmittingthe live transmission from the first local government entity during theparticular time slot, in response to determining that the particulartime slot is available, wherein transmission of the second localgovernment content is paused during the particular time slot.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable memory device of claim 17, wherein thereceived first local government content includes a video or audio file,the method further comprising: determining a particular video-on-demandserver associated with the first local government entity; storing thevideo or audio file on the particular video-on-demand server; andincluding, in the received first local government content, an indicationthat the video or audio file is available from the particularvideo-on-demand server.